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WHAT IS K9 NOSE WORK®?
By Dorothy Turley, CNWI, CPDT-KA
Simply put K9 Nose Work® is allowing your dog to do what he does best…use his nose to find things. I hesitate to
tell people that we teach dogs to do this because the dog knows much more about this than we do and they are the
teachers. We just allow them to do what comes easily and naturally. Best of all, they take us with them while they
work. The sport is different from most dog activities because the handler is not the one in control. Oh, certainly, the
human makes the area safe, sets up the hides, and provides equipment, transportation and such. But no human being
can do the work for their dog. The handler’s biggest job is to remove things that might inhibit the dog from using
their best dog skill—their noses!
There are references out there that will give you more details (a few are listed below) but here are the nuts and
bolts. When you attend a class you will start by having your dog search cardboard boxes for a treat or toy (a
primary reward). Slowly you will increase the difficulty by changing the configuration of the boxes, adding
distractions, changing the environment, etc. No matter what changes the dog always wins and finds the “hide”
(treats or toy). It is very important that this process is done with each dog’s individual abilities in mind. We are
constantly shaping the dog to handle more levels of difficulty without any serious stumbling. This will get the dog
in the game and build up his drive to hunt. By doing this slowly the dog’s desire to hunt (drive) becomes very
resistant to obstacles and distractions and increases the dog’s ability to solve problems when hunting. And best of
all, you and your dog will have great fun!
Many teams are happy to stay at this level of work. They find that it is great mental and physical exercise for the
dog. This is especially true since there are almost no limiting physical factors for dog or human participation.
Having a game that you can do almost anytime or anywhere with your dog will always be a very useful tool. But if
you want to go on, the next level is to introduce the dog to hunting for an odor they would not naturally seek out.
The three target odors used in this sport are Birch, Anise and Clove. These odors were chosen because they are not
overly common (like vanilla and cinnamon or aromatherapy oils such as lavender). They are also reasonably priced.
Anise has been used for many years when training professional detection dogs so it was a natural for use in fun K9
Nose Work®. The odors are carried on cotton swabs that have been exposed to small amount of the essential oil.
The swabs are generally held in small containers to avoid contaminating the environment. This introduction is done
slowly and completely positively. The odor is paired with the dog’s favorite reward (generally food or toy) so that
the dog learns to love the odor as much as his favorite reward.
Eventually some will go on to competition with their dogs. In order to compete, the dog must first pass an Odor
Recognition Test (ORT) for the level they are competing. Nose Work Level 1 (NW1) requires that a dog has passed
the ORT for birch. An ORT would have 12 identical boxes in two rows. One of these boxes contains the Birch odor
hidden inside. The handler must tell the judge when the dog has chosen the correct box. Though it varies for each
team the average time to train to be ready for each title level is approximately a year.
After passing Odor Recognition Tests, there are three levels of competition (NW1, 2 and 3) and each involves four
search elements (types or searches). The four elements are; a container search, an indoor search, an exterior search
and a vehicle search. Each search area is separate and the dog will complete one element before going on to the
other. The odors can be in a variety of places but there are guidelines in the rule book for each element and level of
competition. At NW Level 1 the dog will search for hidden Birch odor on a cotton swab in the four different search
elements. The handler must be able to tell the judge when the dog has correctly located an odor and where it is
located if the judge asks. Each type of search varies depending on the level at which the dog is competing. For
example, the Level 1 vehicle search will have one odor (Birch) hidden on one to three cars. Level 3 dogs will have
to locate 1 to 3 odors on up to 5 vehicles. Vehicle hides for this sport are always on the exterior of the vehicle but
not in plain sight.
There are many different types of scent work for dogs to do such as search and rescue, tracking and article work.
Some are sports and some are more serious in their goals. In many ways there are no differences in what the dog
does in each of these activities except what we train the dog to locate. Someone once said that a tracking dog is
doing something like connect the dots and a Nose Work dog is playing “Where’s Waldo?” This is a good analogy
but the dog will use any technique in their toolbox to find a hide. The dogs that you see in the airport and at borders
are doing very similar work to what our Nose Work are doing for fun. They have been trained to find specific
scents and tell their handler when they have located one. As a matter of fact our container searches at NW2 and
above often involve luggage as part of our container searches.
Due to the popularity of the sport there are many classes available. Even if you don’t want to compete you might
want to seek out a class with a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI) or Associate Nose Work Instructor
(ANWI). These instructors are endorsed and educated by the National Association on Canine Scent Work
(NACSW) and follow the guidelines and philosophies of this organization. They have had to complete an
educational curriculum with the founders and have met the criteria for certification (or are in the process of
completing this). At a minimum your instructor should have attended some workshops given by the Nose Work
founders (Ron Gaunt, Jill Marie O’Brien and Amy Herot). That is not to say that there are not many great
instructors out there but if you think you may want to go on to get a title for you dog, you will want to have a good
foundation with people who know the extra details that will help you be successful not only in competition but in
all aspects of this fun activity. NACSW is dedicated to keeping the sport fun and positive for dogs and humans.
No matter what your goal, you and your dog can have great fun with K9 Nose Work®. You will see a side of your
dog that will amaze and astound you and he will be so glad that you care about what has always been really
important to him.
National Association of Canine Scent Work, LLC® (NACSW) (rules, CNWI, ANWI, ORTs, trial schedules) –
www.nacsw.net
Information about K9 Nose Work – www.K9nosework.com
Bark magazine article with video – www.Thebark.com/content/k9-nose-work-0
About the author: Dorothy Turley, CNWI, CPDT-KA owns Let’s Talk Dogs, LLC. Her training business focuses on
offering positive, common sense training and management to dog owners. She teaches group classes in Olympia and Gig
Harbor and also offers private lessons. She can be reached at 360-556-6857 or through her website,
www.DorothyTurley.com.
© Dorothy Turley 2013
This is an example of a container holding odor that
your dog would search for.
This is what might be inside the tin (cotton swabs with
a very small amount of essential oil odor)
Mock Odor Recognition Test set up (there will only be
a total of 12 boxes in a real ORT)
Container search NW3 (luggage, back packs, purses,
etc.)